Went to see this film a few weeks ago, as I had a free afternoon and thought it'd be an easy viewing (dare I say typical) Hollywood action movie. My expectations were not particularly high, but I was still disappointed that it didn't appear to have anything new to say.
The storyline was extremely similar to those employed previously in better films (for example, Jurassic Park 3, Day After Tomorrow). The movie begins with kids with parents either divorced or on the verge. This made the whole storyline and ending entirely predictable. There is a college-age daughter whose parents are splitting up because their other daughter was drowned in a tragic accident some years earlier and they refuse to talk it out. The mother is engaged to a seemingly good-guy type at the start, but when earthquakes strike he abandons her daughter and we see his true nature as he pulls other civilians out of shop doors so that he can take shelter. Later on the daughter is drowned and her father, after several minutes of resuscitation, gives up, only to decide to re-attempt it after a break and, predictably, we finally hear a cough and up she gets. Happy endings for this family. I almost expected the film to stretch a little further in the interests of wrapping things up, and maybe even bring back the other daughter.
Story aside, some of the shots of quake destruction were ok, but if you're a fan of disaster-type action films, I'd still recommend giving this one a miss as the story is disastrous.